Chapter Two

Her response was anything but the one he had expected, several minutes passed and he felt nothing...literally. Mark opened his eyes to find that he was very much alone. The curtains of the hotel window were now drawn back and billowing as a slight breeze caught them.

He sat up on the bed and held his head in his hands...this couldn't be happening, he was the fucking Phenom, not some crazy loon. He was supposed to control the darkness , instead he was slowly loosing his mind. Anger swelled up inside him forming a knot in his stomach, but that soon turned to despair as he realised that his dream, his delusion was gone for the night. He took a quick glance at his watch and saw it was only 2am,

"Damn it" he said out loud to the world and got up and headed for the bathroom, hoping that a shower would make him feel so much better. Mark stood in the stall, the water on full but so cold. He was glad of the chill that was quickly covering his body, this was the closest that he knew he would get to her tonight.

Resting his brow against the tiles he let himself surrender to the frustration he felt and wept, the salty tears making his eyes sting...but it was a pain he gladly felt.

"Why, did he have to go and spoil it" she thought, as she watched his hotel room from across the street. She had left the room the second he spoke having broken their unwritten but acknowledged rule so now Mark would not know how close he had came to being able to finally make love with her. She wanted him so much but she had to be careful, there was something about Mark Calaway that she couldn't fully understand, it was as if she was drawn to him and it was beginning to feel like she was a moth and he was the flame.

She watched him get up and enter the bathroom, her hearing picked up on the sound of running water, biting her lip she smiled at the mental image of him naked as the water ran over his body. She stood and put a hand on the rail before her a moments hesitation before heading back to her night time lover... "No" she chided herself ," he is not a lover, he is a means to an end" She kicked the low wall that surrounded the roof top in temper "just a few more seconds and he would have tasted immortality...but no he had to go and spoil it...so let him suffer she" thought. With that she turned and vanished into the night, determined not to return for some time if at all.

Mark, stood with the water running over him oblivious to the passage of time, while he tried to work out what the hell was going on. The more he thought about the last few months the less it made any sense. He could clearly remember each and every match and yet every night once he got alone into his hotel room..it was like trying to think through a fog.

He reached out and turned off the water, not even bothering to towel himself dry he flopped on the bed and buried his head in the pillow, praying for sleep.

Elsewhere
Eloise, sat looking down into the street..she was beyond furious...how could a mortal man affect her so...damn Mark Calaway...damn him straight to hell, her thoughts wandering back to how it all begin.

It was all because of that one night they had ran into each other outside a restaurant. He had been talking on his cell phone as he was leaving the building, his head slightly down and Eloise was far too busy following likely candidate for her next meal. They had walked straight into each other and Eloise had stumbled, while he had dropped his phone. Mark being the gentleman that he was couldn't stop apologising while he picked up his now broken cell phone. She could remember him pausing briefly to look up at her, a slight smile on his face. Everything was fine until she looked into his eyes and then her mind literally went blank..it wasn't until he stood up and accidentally brushed against her that she snapped out of the stupor she found herself in. Words were spoken but she couldn't remember what was said or by whom..she was lost, totally enthralled by this stranger. He had left her stood watching as he walked to the car park and drove away, giving her that little smile of his and a wave.

After that all thoughts of feeding went from her mind, OK she had pounced on a poor unfortunate drunk in an alley but what was nothing but a snack...she barely touched him and allowed him to live another day.

The next night was no better, though their contact had been brief she could smell him on her...even after a change of clothes his scent still lingered...it was if he was haunting her.

Every time she went to feed, her mind would drift back to the moment their eyes met and all thoughts of feeding from someone else would vanish. She knew that she had to find him again, to taste him but what was the chances of that...of being able to find the man with those piercing green eyes and such a sweet smile.

All this went on for weeks until she was out on the prowl half mad from hunger and had stopped by a street corner, looking desperately for someone she felt she could prey on. It was there that she spotted some magazine at a news-stand...there on the front cover was those eyes staring right back at her...underneath it said a name "The Undertaker", and "The Deadman cometh"

Eloise, bought a copy of the magazine and read it, discovering that her new obsession was a wrestler and his real name was Mark Calaway. Also that he was considered to be one of the best in the business. Locating him proved to be difficult due not only because of his busy schedule but also because he was an immensely private person, it took her just over a week to finally track him down..but when she finally did..it was worth the wait.

He was to be appearing at a Smackdown Taping and she made sure that she had a ticket, that in itself made her doubt her own sanity. She could things that most mortals only dreamed of and yet like so many other sheep she stood in line and handed over her money. She had never watched wrestling before and while for the most part she found it boring there were certain elements that appealed to her...none more so than when he walked to the ring and spoke.

Dear god, that voice..unable to stop herself she closed her eyes and felt the energy build up in the crowd...oh what she could do with it..but no not here not now...instead she slipped unseen to the underground parking lot and waited. Minutes turned to hours and she was ready to leave having all but given up hope of seeing him when he finally walked through the large cargo door, carrying a holdall and a case while chatting to some other wrestlers

She waited until he was busy placing his luggage into the trunk of the car before she dared to move closer so very concious of the fact that he was no average man and from what she had seen he knew how to handle himself. While she knew he wouldn't be able to do her any lasting damage he could at least hurt her.

Eloise had thought about quickly approaching him there and then but decided to wait and to pay him a visit once he was alone so she would have more time to savour the moment.

But her hunger was clouding her judgement and she felt uncertain of what to do, she was just about to step forward when a small group of officials and road crew entered the area..she hissed and stepped back into the shadows but not before getting the details of where Mark was staying from his mind as he got in and drove away, leaving her alone for the second time.

There and then she vowed there would not be a third.